ABSTRACT
The birth of steel skyscraper buildings can be rightfully associated with the invention of passenger elevators which appeared in a practical form around the 1870s. Buildings prior to this date were generally limited to five to six storeys by the ability of a person to walk up. Early buildings of this type utilized masonry exterior loadbearing walls with cast iron interior columns. Wrought iron floor beams and girders, which were encased, supported shallow brickvaulted floors. The exterior masonry wall provided not only the rigidity with respect to lateral wind loads, but also the support and fenestration for the exterior masonry facades.
